Both of Baldwinsville’s volleyball teams will enter their respective Section III tournaments fully expecting championship honors on Nov. 5 at Cicero-North Syracuse.
Still, in the case of the boys Bees, it wanted to prove it was the best overall team in the area, and to do so required beating Oswego, something it didn’t come close to doing when the two sides first met on Sept. 25, where the Buccaneers prevailed in a three-set sweep.
It was anything but a sweep in last Monday night’s rematch at the Baker High School Gym, where B’ville went out in front in the middle of the match, but could not quite sustain that energy and lost in five sets to Oswego.
Having lost the opening set 25-17, the Bees would match the Bucs’ power in each of the next sets, earning most of the important points and prevailing by equal 25-21 margins.
And B’ville wasn’t that phased when Oswego rolled to a 25-8 victory in the fourth set. During the final set, the Bees gained plenty of points, but could not put together the long, sustained run it needed, and the Bucs claimed the match 25-20.
Up front, the Bees saw Corey Toscano lead the way with 11 kills. Jonathan Dunn finished with nine kills, while Ryan Gell and Dalton Mahan had seven kills apiece. David Cerqua earned 11 digs.
Oswego’s powerful combination of Zach Gillard and Josh Carney struck again, Gillard earning 43 kills and Carney contributing 55 assists, plus 10 blocks. Emmet O’Brien (11 kills), Trey Clark (10 kills) and Pat Dillon (eight kills) helped on the front line as Trevor Bradshaw managed 12 digs.
B’ville would finish the regular season on Wednesday night, visiting Central Square, and complete an undefeated (10-0) CNYCL run with a four-set victory over the Red Hawks.
A tight opening set when 25-21 in the Bees’ favor, and it added a 25-17 win in the second set. To its credit, the Red Hawks hung in there, averting match points to take the third set 26-24, but B’ville closed it out with an easy 25-16 win in the fourth set.
Dubiel finished his night with 27 assists, adding four kills. Up front, Toscano and Mahan both produced nine kills, with Mahan also getting five assists. Nick Walker contributed five kills and Miko Mirizio stepped up with four kills as Cerqua added six digs and three assists. Damon Pugh (10 kills) and Adam Beitz (25 assists) led Central Square’s efforts.
As that went on, B’ville’s girls volleyball team cruised to a pair of easy wins, starting last Tuesday night with a 25-13, 25-14, 25-12 sweep over the Nottingham Bulldogs.
Hannah Klaben picked up 18 assists, her passes going to, among others, Jessica Sprague, who led with nine kills. Michelle Voyer had five kills and five aces, while Brittany Fabrizio added four aces and two kills. Morgan Snibel and Katie Wicks each got three kills, with Snibel adding three blocks.
The regular season ended two nights later, at Central Square, with a rare feat pulled off by Meghann Smith. With the first set won 25-16, Smith had the serve to start the second set – and never lost it, rattling off 25 consecutive points.
Somehow, the Red Hawks overcame this to make it a close third set, but B’ville, improving its mark to 13-1, still completed another sweep 25-21 and, like their male counterparts, proved perfect (9-0) in league matches.
Smith put together 13 assists and four aces. Klaben also had 13 assists as Aiello earned 10 kills, Shayna Webber six kills and Rebecca Lawrence four kills. Pascale managed six digs.
